Nightmares
by HomemadeMagic
Summary: The death of James and Lily was probably the most tragic event in the Harry Potter books. The memory of it will always haunt those who it affected. Here are the stories, told as nightmares, of the people it involved. PreOotP, is in dire need of revision
1. Harry

_ Lily stared off into space, rocking Harry back and forth and ignoring the tears that were running down her face. "I can't believe it..."  
  
"It's okay, Lily," James whispered, "He'll be fine."  
  
"Yes, but whoever would have thought? He was always so nice..." Lily looked down at Harry's wide, innocent eyes that seemed to have no idea of the danger he was in.  
  
James bit his lip, thinking. "No," he said slowly, "Recently, he was...so distant with us, remember?"  
  
Lily turned to him, bright green eyes sparkling with tears. "Yes, but we all thought it was just a phase, didn't we? And poor Sirius, he's going to be feeling horrible, I just can't believe...after all these years...of all people, how could it be him?"  
  
James reached out and pulled her close to him. "It's okay, Lily. Harry will be fine."  
  
Lily rested her head against his chest, still crying. His shirt was soaked, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing except Harry, and Harry...Harry would be fine. Dumbledore had promised. The prophecies had told them so. "I just wish this didn't have to happen."  
  
James absentmindedly stroked her hair, that long red hair that he had loved for so long. And now...well, now they would see.... "I love you, Lily," he whispered.  
  
"I love you too, James," she whispered back. She looked down at Harry, smiling through her tears. "Look, he's gone to sleep."_

_James smiled back. "At least he's happy."__   
  
There was a noise outside in the bushes. They both sat up straight. "He's here," James said, barely able to believe his own words. The tone in his voice woke Harry, and he cried out, but neither he or Lily paid any attention to him.  
  
Lily gulped. "James--"  
  
"Lily, take Harry and GO!" James told her sharply, panic suddenly flooding him. Lily did not move. She seemed to be frozen with fear. "It's him! Go!! Run! I'll hold him off--" the blood seemed to return to Lily's feet, and she stumbled out of the room, holding Harry close to her chest, and raced upstairs._

_ The door burst open, and a black-robed figure came in. It stopped when it saw James, and then cackling, high pitched cackling filled the room...  
  
Lily gasped and almost fell down the stairs when she heard it, but she kept running. Harry was still crying. She flung open the door, then whirled around and locked it. That should stop him for a while. That was all she could do anyway. She put Harry on the bed and sat down and tried to wait, but she couldn't. She paced around, the room, and sat down again, and picked up Harry, and put him back...  
  
There was a lump of fear growing and growing in her stomach. Her footsteps thudded around the room loudly, and she strained to hear what was going on downstairs, but she couldn't. Then--more cackling--pleading--Lily gulped, she couldn't stand to listen to it--and then--"AVADA KEDAVRA!!"  
  
Lily gasped, and a hand flew to her mouth, stifling a scream. _ He's coming, and he's coming to get me, _she thought. She couldn't shake it..._he's coming...I'm next...no...  
  
_The door opened. Lily flew out of her seat. "No!!" she screamed.  
  
"Stand aside," hissed Voldemort, leering at her.  
  
"No, not Harry!!" Lily shrieked again, panic flooding her. "You can't!! No, you can't do this to me!!" She was absolutely wild with fear, there were tears streaming down her face in torrents. "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!!"  
  
"Stand aside, you silly girl...stand aside, now. Or would you like to die too?" Voldemort raised his wand.  
  
"No!! Not Harry, Please, anyone but Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead, please--"  
  
Voldemort was silent for a minute, seeming to consider her request. Lily's hopes rose wildly, in spite of herself. "Not Harry!! Please...have mercy...please..."  
  
"Crucio!!" hissed Voldemort.  
  
"NO!!" Lily screamed, falling to her knees. White-hot pain flooded her, but she did not forget...she must save Harry...had to..."Not Harry! Please, not Harry, have mercy, take anyone but Harry, have mercy...please...you've got to..." her big green eyes looked up at Voldemort, wild with fear and pain.  
  
But Voldemort just stood there and laughed, laughed at her fear and her pain. Then he raised his wand--she begged more--but he just laughed, and said something and then--  
  
_  
Harry shot out of bed. His heart was beating wildly. He put a hand up to his face and realized it was soaked with tears. Racking his brain, he tried to remember what his dream was about.  
  
The memory hit him at full force, and he fell back in bed under the weight of it. His mother screaming...Voldemort laughing...his throat choked up again. That was the clearest he had ever dreamed of it. His mother and his father...he squeezed his eyes tight, forcing himself not to cry.  
  
After a minute, Harry got himself under control and lifted his head to look at the clock. The little lighted numbers on someone's magical clock read 2:34. As he watched, they clicked to 2:35. Harry sighed. He really needed to get some sleep, or he would be exhausted tomorrow. He flopped his head back on the pillow, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.  
  
As soon as he closed his eyes, the dark crept in on him again. His mother's face swam in front of his eyes, screaming and pleading.  
  
_"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead--"_  
  
Harry's eyes popped open and he shuddered and sat up again, hugging his knees tight to his body. Suddenly he realized just how _thick_ the darkness was. It was creeping in on him...he squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to shut it out, but it just kept coming.

_"It's him! Go!! Run! I'll hold him off--" _

He opened his eyes. This wasn't working. He glanced nervously around the dark, half expecting Voldemort to come bursting out of it. A lump of fear rose in his stomach. Voldemort's snaky face appeared in his mind, and he gave a shuddering breath when he realized how cruel the man was, how he had just stood there and laughed, laughed at his mother screaming, and then just killed her, just one curse and...Harry shuddered again. This wasn't working. Throwing back the covers, he climbed out of bed.  
  
In the trunk at the foot of his bed, there was the book Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year, the one with all the pictures of his mom and dad. Opening it and taking it to the window, he looked down at a picture of Sirius, Remus, his mom and dad and him as a baby all standing in a photo together. Well, not standing. Sirius was jumping up and down for no apparent reason, Remus was trying to hold him still, his mom was rolling her eyes and his dad was laughing at them. Peter was nowhere in sight.  
  
_ Peter. _Harry frowned at the thought of the name, but he quickly looked back down at Sirius in the picture. _Sirius...I wonder where he is tonight.._. he thought absentmindedly. Smiling, he closed the book and put it back where it belonged. Then he climbed into bed again, determined to go to sleep this time.  
  
In a few minutes, Harry was snoring away with the rest of the boys in his dorm, and he didn't wake up again that night.  
  
But far away, someone else was haunted with similar nightmares...

More coming soon, I promise!


	2. Sirius

_Sirius landed his motorcycle in front of Peter's hiding place and looked around. There was no one in sight. Well, that was almost a good sign. There shouldn't be; it was the middle of the night._

_He climbed off his bike and walked up to the front door, not bothering to take off his helmet or black leather jacket. If this was James and Lily's house, or Remus' he wouldn't have knocked, but this was Peter. He didn't want to scare him half to death._

_Sirius waited patiently for an answer, but there wasn't one. He knocked again, louder. Still no answer. Panic began to flood him. He opened the door slowly, hoping against hope that someone was still in there..."Peter?" he called._

_The silence of the house did not stir. "Peter?" he said again, "Peter!"_

_No one answered. The panic in his stomach built up higher. He couldn't have...there was no way...he never would have thought...Sirius looked around wildly. Nothing was out of place. No sign of a struggle, no nothing. He walked around the house a little more, but again, nothing was out of place. He swore under his breath and got out as fast as he could, making for his motorbike._

_Sirius jumped on his bike and took off as fast he could, without checking if anyone was watching. His heart was racing...if that little rat had..._Come on, go faster! _he urged urged the bike mentally, pushing on the gas harder and harder._

_The bike was racing as fast as it could go, high above the earth, but Sirius didn't notice, just kept begging it silently to go faster, still jamming the gas pedal down as hard as he could._

_There it was...their house...but wait, that wasn't their house...their house was still standing. "Oh my God," Sirius choked, "No...it can't be..." the bike landed with a thump, nearly killing him, but he jumped off it, too distracted to notice. "Oh my God...no...no..." his voice got steadily hoarser, but he kept running towards the ruin._

_Hagrid was there, seemingly looking for something, but Sirius paid no attention to them...where were James and Lily...they had to be alive..._

_"Oh please," he prayed out loud, "Please, let them still be alive...please, you've got to listen to me...oh my God..." there were their bodies, just lying there, frozen in fear, James' face staring up at him, as if to say, "How could you, Sirius? How could you?" And Lily...her hair...her eyes...even greener than the eerie glow of the dark mark above her...she was almost alive..."Oh my God," Sirius whispered again. "No...James...Lily...no..." He couldn't help dropping to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "No..."_

_A shrill cry broke his thoughts. His heart suddenly sped up to a hundred miles an hour. "Oh my...I can't believe it..." Sirius made his way through the wreck and pulled Harry out of the rubble. "Harry, you're...you're...YOU'RE ALIVE!" he exclaimed, a crazy kind of joy coming over him as he hugged the child close to him. Harry immediately stopped crying._

"Oh, thank God you're safe," Sirius whispered, hugging him close. Then he quickly put Harry back down where he had been and walked back to Lily and James; he had a feeling no one would be very happy if they saw Sirius Black holding Harry Potter. After all, he hadn't told anyone but the Potters who was the Secret-Keeper, had he?

_He was not a moment too soon. Hagrid came up from behind him and picked up Harry. Then he turned and seemed to notice Sirius for the first time. "Sirius Black! I should 'ave known you'd be 'ere."_

_Sirius managed a small smile, but didn't turn around. "Hagrid..." he said in a distant voice that, three years ago, he never would have believed was his own._

_"It's all right, Sirius," Hagrid said, obviously trying to comfort him. "Lookit Harry, he's fine, an' You-Know-Who, he's gone..."_

_Sirius turned his white, shaking face towards Hagrid. "They're dead, Hagrid...I can't believe it..."_

_"It's a shame...James an' Lily..."_

_Sirius gulped. "Yes...look Hagrid, what're you doing with Harry?"_

_"Professor Dumbledore, he says bring 'im to 'im, an' he'll find a 'ome for 'im..."_

_"Give Harry to me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather. I'll look after him, I swear...you can tell Dumbledore, he'll understand. Please, Hagrid?"  
_

_But Hagrid shook his head. "I've got me orders from Dumbledore, I'll be takin' 'im there. Harry's ter go ter his aunt an' his uncle's. Dumbledore said so, sir."_

_"But Hagrid...I'm his godfather, I'll look after him good, come on, I can do better than Lily's sister! She's a Muggle, she hates everything to do with magic! Harry would never be happy in a place like that! Please?"_

_"Sorry, Sirius, but I can't, or Dumbledore'll be wantin' to know what's happened, I can' do that..."_

_Sirius sighed heavily. "It's all right, Hagrid, I understand. Look, take my motorbike, okay? I won't be needing it." Like hell he wouldn't. The next chance he got, Peter Pettigrew would be RUNNING for his LIFE, and if he EVER got his hands on the dirty little RAT..._

_Hagrid looked surprised, but he shrugged and climbed on the bike. "Good luck, Sirius."_

_"Thanks, Hagrid," Sirius said hollowly as the huge man took off. "I'll need it," he muttered, looking back at the ruins of James and Lily's house. "You die, Peter," he added, and stalked off._

_As he walked down the cold and empty streets, the hot rage began to fill in him. He couldn't believe it...that dirty little rat...if it hadn't been for that stinky, filthy, rotten cheater, James and Lily...his best friends...they would still be alive. He bit his lip. If only he had known...how could he not have guessed?_

_Thinking back, Sirius realized what a fool he had been. Peter had been acting oddly for a year now. Avoiding their questions, shifty eyes, always looking like he was on his deathbed, or about to die...how could he not have known? _I'm such an idiot,_ Sirius thought. If only he'd seen it sooner...but no, he'd thought it was just a stage._

_"He'll grow out of it," Sirius remembered himself telling James confidently, "Peter's always been a little nervous. I bet it's nothing."_

_"Yeah, I guess you're right," James had replied, and they had never argued about it again._

_If only he hadn't been so STUPID! He had been so sure...so confident...they would never suspect Peter, he was too insignificant. He remembered that argument, too. "Oh really, James, who would ever think it was Peter? He's so shy, he can't do anything but squeak." Oh, they had laughed at that. Even then, when Voldemort was practically breathing down their throats, they had laughed._

_Guilt and anger washed over him. That dirty little rat...and he had picked him...trusted him...Sirius's footsteps picked up. He would find that rat, if it was the last thing he did, and he would make SURE that the last thing they found of him was his little finger._

_In a box._

_That's irony for you, _Sirius thought as he opened his eyes slowly, wishing the daylight wouldn't creep in. It was kind of a surprise when it didn't. It was still pitch black in the cave, and he could hear Buckbeak snoring beside him. _What time is it?_ he wondered absentmindedly, then remembered there was no way of telling. Looking down at his feet, he realized he should probably turn into a dog. But it was kind of nice to be in human form, even this close to England. Still...

With a sigh and a small pop, Sirius transformed into a dog and padded his way to the front of the cave. The moon was full tonight, he realized. Absentmindedly, he wondered where Remus was today. Then he sighed. He would give anything to see Remus again...their last meeting had been far too short.

His mind drifted back to his dreams. _Peter._ Damn rat. He would get him, if it was the last thing he did. He still had not changed his mind about _that_. Well, he would wait. He had waited fourteen years in Azkaban, and now he would wait here.

_I hope you're having fun with your master, Peter_, Sirius thought, not a ltitle bit evilly. He turned back to go into the cave. _Because you sure as hell won't be when I catch up with you_.

Sirius yawned, turned around three times, and laid down on the cold stone floor to go to sleep.

He would kill Peter later.

If Voldemort didn't do it for him.


	3. Peter

_Peter's tiny body practically quivered with excitement and anticipation. Tonight was the night!! Tonight, he would get what he deserved. He could just imagine the look on his Master's face, when he told him the news. Who would've imagined!! He laughed silently to himself. He couldn't believe Sirius had trusted him...it was a perfect bluff...yes, Sirius would be after his blood now, but who cares?_

_A tiny pang of regret washed over him as he looked around to make sure everything in his house was in place. Lily had always been so nice to him. James, too. Oh well. They just felt sorry for him. He had new friends now. _They_ didn't feel sorry for him._

_Sirius did, just like James and Lily. Sirius had trusted him. Peter could still barely believe it. It had been so perfect, so easy to play the little insignificant timid fool. Of course, that's what he was, most of the time. Even around his new friends._

_But not tonight!! They were always mistrusting him, but not tonight!! Tonight they would see him for what he was _really_ worth._

_Well, it was time. Time to go to his Master. Sirius would be livid when he found out. He would have to do something about that._

_Oh well. Time enough for plotting against his friends later._

_Now he had a job to do._

_Peter took one glance around his house to make sure nothing was missing, then walked to the middle of the room and Apparated. Funny how James and Sirius had taught him to Apparate, and now he was using it against them...just like he was using everything against them._

I don't care,_ Peter thought stubbornly, as he stepped out into his Master's headquarters. _I have new friends now.

Peter's eyes blinked once and opened to meet utter darkness. _Ugh,_ he thought, _It's too early to be awake._ He remembered his dream well enough, but...he had relived that so many times...with a yawn, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

_Peter walked down the Muggle streets, for once in his life looking for Sirius. He had no doubt the man would be there; he had been raging for a couple days now, and the slightest hint of where Peter might be would send him racing off._

_And Peter knew for a fact that Black had the tiniest hints of where he was._

_He had no choice, really. The Dark Lord was gone...the Death Eaters all split up...well,_ they _could pretend they were under a curse. He knew he couldn't. Sirius would never believe that._

_So this was his only option. Peter checked his watch. Any minute now...there were footsteps behind him. He turned around quickly. Perfect. He turned around and stared. "Sirius!!"_

_Black's eyes narrowed. "Peter."_

_One look at his eyes and suddenly what Peter had to do didn't seem too hard after all. There was madness there...madness, grief, shock and anger. Terrible anger, the kind that could kill him in a second. None of these were a good combination. Peter immediately burst into tears. Sirius was staring at him, staring at him with those coal black eyes, eyes that seemed suddenly on fire. _

_"How could you, Sirius?" he sobbed, "Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?!" He made to reach for his wand, but of course he already had it ready, behind his back._

_"You traitor," Sirius gasped, barely able to believe it. Peter waited til his old friend had his wand out before saying the curse._

_The sewer beneath him blew apart, taking the whole street with them. In the midst of the explosion and the screaming Muggles, Peter cut off his finger and changed into a rat. He had stained his robes red beforehand, so the Ministry would think it was blood._

_Rats, normal rats, poured out of the sewer. Among them, who would notice one tiny insignificant rat scampering down into it?_

_But of course Sirius did. He stared in horror as Peter disappeared down into the sewer, and then he threw back his head and laughed. Peter's ears nearly split in half at the sound of it. "Finger in a box..." he was saying, still laughing hysterically. Tears were rolling down his face as he laughed, and Peter knew enough to know they were not tears of joy; they were tears of madness, of anger, and of grief._

_Sirius knew he was hopeless now. Everyone would think he had done it. No one would suspect poor, innocent Peter, who had so bravely given his life in memory of his friends. Well, now Sirius knew how it felt to be the hopeless one._

_Peter stayed long enough to listen to the Ministry wizards take Sirius away, still laughing. He smiled a little to himself. Oh, Sirius was laughing now. Just wait til he got into Azkaban._

_And Peter the rat scampered off. He had had his moment of triumph._

_Now he must wait._

_He would find a wizard's house, and watch the news, and wait for the Dark Lord to return._

Peter's eyes popped open for the second time this night, but this time he was decidedly more shaken up.

It had been a long time since he had that dream. He smiled to himself. That had been a good day, and even better, it was his own idea.

The only good idea he had ever had.

But somehow, Sirius's eyes kept coming back to haunt him. Those two fiery slits that used to dance so merrily, glaring at him as if he would rather be dead than deal with such slime.

And then he remembered the two hollow, dead holes they had been after Sirius got out of Azkaban. Peter gulped in fear at the memory.

A voice played tauntingly in his head. Two voices, in fact.

_"You don't understand!! He would have killed me, Sirius!"_

_"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!! DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!!"_

Fear flooded Peter again. No...not that memory...the look...his eyes...and Harry...Lily's eyes, staring at him with horror and hatred forming in them...

_"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."_

A shudder shook Peter and he rolled over on his stomach, sweating and shaking. His old friends' faces swam in front of him. How could he ever, ever think there was something to get out of killing James and Lily? They hated him now...even pity was better than the hatred in their eyes...and the Dark Lord, he couldn't even _think_ his real name, the Dark Lord mistrusted him, treated him like filth...he was such a fool...

But no. Peter shook himself quickly. What was he thinking? There was no way out for him now. And anyway, he got more respect here. He was his Master's most trusted servant, with a place of honor among all the Death Eaters. He was bound to them.

And anyway, this was what he wanted, right? Protection from the Dark Lord. There was more here than with Sirius and Remus. Sirius, the escaped convict, and Remus, the werewolf. The very idea of protection from them was laughable.

He was safe here.

Wasn't he?


	4. Remus

_Dear Mr. Lupin,_

_You have probably heard of the events that have a occurred over the past few days, but whether or not you have, I should like to speak with you about them. There may be a few things you do not know. Please report to Hogwarts immediately. The password to my office is "acid pop."_

_I shall see you there._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Dumbledore._

_Remus stared at the letter in shock. What could have possible happened that Dumbledore needed him for so soon? It was the end of a full moon week, so he was rather exhausted and hadn't been paying much attention to the wizarding world. Sirius hadn't talked to him in a while, but that wasn't a problem; they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, he could always find him if he needed something. _

_Of course he couldn't talk to James, since he didn't where he was. But of course he wasn't supposed to, and he didn't want to._

_Well, whatever Dumbledore wanted, there was no use wondering about it, now was there? He would find out soon enough. Remus folded up his letter and looked at the owl that had delivered it. "You can go back," he told it, "I'm going to see Dumbledore, I don't need to write a reply."_

_The owl gave a soft hoot, took a sip of water from the dish Remus had offered it, and sailed back out of the window. Remus yawned widely; it was still early in the morning; and looked around his house. Everything was in place. Well, no one could get in unless he was at home, so it would all be safe. With another yawn, he Apparated quickly to a point just outside of Hogwarts._

_A few minutes later, Remus was in Dumbledore's office looking into the face of the old man, who looked decidedly grim for once. "What's wrong?" he asked nervously._

_"I had hoped you would have known," Dumbledore said sadly, "It would have made it easier on me. Remus....Lily and James are dead."_

_Remus gasped, and a lump rose quickly in his throat. "They're--what? Are you sure? What happened?"_

_"Voldemort happened. Last Halloween, he showed up at their house and..." Dumbledore trailed off meaningfully._

_He stared disbelievingly. "But...Harry...is Harry..."_

_Dumbledore smiled a little. "Harry is still alive. When Voldemort went to kill him, something...deflected the curse, and he fell, but Harry still lives, with a lightning bolt scar left to show of his encounter."_

_Remus shook his head, as if to clear it. "How's Sirius taking this? Is Harry with--" he stopped abruptly, noticing the look on Professor Dumbledore's face. "What?" he said, a feeling of dread growing rapidly in his stomach._

_Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Sirius was their Secret-Keeper," he said finally, "He...he betrayed them to Voldemort."_

_Remus stared. "No," he croaked, "Sirius--he couldn't have--no--"_

_Dumbledore's eyes closed, as if in pain. "Yes, he did."_

_"But--are you sure? He couldn't have--Sirius--" Memories of Sirius were running through Remus' mind like wildfire. Sirius' eyes lighting up with laughter as he played another prank on Lily...Sirius and James joking around endlessly about Snape...Sirius turning into a dog at the full moon, just to help Remus...Sirius holding Harry gently in his arms, looking at him with an expression almost equal to the one in James' eyes when he looked at his son...Sirius looking way out of place in a tuxedo at James' wedding, as the best man..._

_Remus looked down at Dumbledore's desk, disbelief filling his mind. That just didn't seem like the Sirius he knew. It just didn't. It couldn't be. "No..." he said again, looking at Dumbledore like an innocent child looking at their parent, waiting for him to deny it, just to say it wasn't true, it was all a joke, Sirius was in on it, it was all a joke, it had to be..._

_But no. Dumbledore was nodding sadly. "He is in Azkaban. It is highly unlikely that he will have a trial; he murdered Peter Pettigrew, and 13 Muggles."_

_Peter!! It was all too much!! No, Dumbledore had to be wrong, Remus decided. Sirius simply couldn't do that. Yes, he got angry, yes he had a temper, but Sirius would never kill anyone...would he? NO, he wouldn't. He loved life, loved it too much. How many times had he seen Sirius make fun of Snape and Malfoy and their gang? And everyone with an ounce of sense knew they were Death Eaters. Sirius would never go over to them, never in a million years...would he?_

_It didn't seem possible, but doubts filled Remus' find nonetheless. He hadn't seen Black for a while, maybe he had....Remus tried to keep the suspicions out, but they came in. Maybe Sirius _had_ gone over to Voldemort. Maybe, maybe, maybe. There was a spy, wasn't there? Maybe it _was_ Sirius. He had seemed distant in the past few days, avoiding Remus whenever possible. Maybe..._

_Remus became suddenly aware of Dumbledore watching him, waiting for his reaction. "Thank you," he said shortly._

_"For what?" Dumbledore replied seriously._

_"For telling me." Remus stood up, and, without another word, left the room._

_Dumbledore watched him go, with a troubled expression on his face. He would have to watch Remus, to make sure he didn't get chronically depressed. But no, he would be all right. He had had enough problems in his life to not get discouraged by a thing like this._

_But in his life, he had had James Potter and Sirius Black by his side practically all the time._

_And now one of them was dead, and the other a traitor._

_It would be a miracle if Lupin managed to live through this._

Remus, in his wolfish state, woke briefly from the Wolfsbane Potion-induced sleep he had been in and yawned widely. He rarely had dreams while he was a wolf, but apparently this was one of those rare occasions when he did.

The overshadowed part of his mind that was still human turned over the events of his dream. How happy he had been when he found out Sirius wasn't the traitor after all! Deep down, he must have known it, or he really wouldn't have survived. It just didn't fit together. Sirius, the bubbling, happy prankster could never have betrayed Lily and James on purpose. Never.

To Remus' logical mind, it never had made sense. All the evidence was in place, but Sirius' personality just didn't go along with it. Remus had grown accustomed to hearing about it and had resigned himself to the facts in front of him and kept quiet about it. He didn't want to take chances, and he certainly didn't want anyone to believe he was in league with Sirius Black.

But now he knew Sirius wasn't the traitor, and it was a great relief to him.

He hadn't lost all his friends after all.

And Dumbledore knew, too, so everything would be all right eventually.

Remus the wolf yawned again, breaking the hold of his human mind on him. The wolf mind took over again, and as it did, so did the Potion.

Remus rolled over and fell once more into a deep sleep.


	5. Dumbledore

Dammit, I was hoping no one would catch my mistake. Ah, oh well. I changed this chapter so it's Crouch, not Fudge in charge. I figured it out a while after I wrote the chapter, but Fudge in charge still made so much more sense...ah, oh well. It's fixed. *grumbles at dii the bitchy werewolf...nah, just kidding, yer awesome too*

Dumbledore sighed and rolled over in bed. For some reason, he just couldn't get his mind off this one particular memory. Whenever he tried to go to sleep, it would come back into his head.

Without meaning to, his eyes slid around the room and landed on the Pensieve he had forgotten to put away the other day. He paused a moment, considering. Did he really want to relive that night, and that day? He had studied it many times before, over and over. Well, why not? That was what he had bought the thing for, after all. There was no other way he could get some sleep, after all.

He climbed out of bed, picked up the Pensieve and his wand and let his memories fall into the basin.

A glance at the silvery liquid quickly led up to his leaning over the Pensieve and sliding easily into the memory.

_Next to him, Alastor Moody shifted uneasily. "I can't_believe _they're letting that man go," he muttered, "I mean, he was obviously a Death Eater, Imperious Curse my.."_

_"Alastor!" Dumbledore hissed under his breath, looking around uneasily. There weren't many people this time, and none of them were paying much attention to the two men in the corner, but still..._

_Moody rolled one eye, his magical eye still darting around the room. "Oh, like they care." He sighed and leaned back on the bench. "After all the work we went through to catch him...and they let him go, just like that, I can't believe..."_

_"Hush, Mr. Crouch is standing up to talk," Dumbledore reprimanded him mildly._

_Moody snorted derisively; it was well known he thought the man far too nice to "former" Death Eaters; but said nothing._

_"Ladies and gentlemen," Crouch was saying, "I thank you for your time here, but there will be no more trials today."_

_An extremely relieved look covered Moody's face, but Dumbledore sat up straight, his face drawn into two thin lines._

_"If you wish to attend more trials, you may see me right now," Crouch continued, "In the meantime, have a wonderful afternoon."_

_Moody stood up gratefully and stretched his legs. "Dumbledore," he began, turning, "I need to talk to you about--" but Dumbledore was already striding quickly across the room, an extremely anxious look on his face. "Oh, for the love of..." he muttered, not really feeling like dealing with whatever had gone wrong this time._

_"Mr. Crouch," Dumbledore was saying in low tones, "I don't suppose you can tell me who is being tried tomorrow?"_

_"Probably that last batch of Death Eaters we just got, and then we're all clear for a while. Why do you ask?_

_"Can you tell me when Sirius Black is to be tried?"_

_A shadow crossed Crouch's face. "He will not be having a trial."_

_Dumbledore's eyebrows knitted together. "Why not?" he asked softly, knowing his tone of voice would unnerve the other man._

_He was right. Crouch was an expert at maintaining his composure, but Dumbledore could see from the way he pulled his mouth in that he was far less than calm. "Why do you think? The man is a traitor!!"_

_"Have you asked him about that?"_

_Crouch gave Dumbledore a stern look. "He won't say anything but 'finger in a box, finger in a box' and laugh hysterically. It's as if he planned it all!! One of the worst Death Eaters I've ever seen, more mad then the whole lot of them..."_

_Dumbledore gave him a piercing, blue-eyed stare. "So you have decided not to give him a trial?"_

_"Everyone knows he betrayed Lily and James. He was their Secret-Keeper, remember?"_

_"Yes," said Dumbledore, ever so softly. "But I believe in fairness, Bartemius. Why not use the Veritaserum Potion instead of just assuming things?"_

_"It is too late," Crouch said stiffly, "The Ministry has decided not to give Sirius Black a trial. He will not have one. Have a good day." He started to walk away, but Dumbledore stopped him._

_"May I see him?"_

_"What?"_

_"I want to see Sirius. Talk to him. May I?"_

_Crouch hesitated. He had a policy of always obeying the rules, but he was a politician, and a bad judge of character. That meant he would do everything to get on the good side of the public, and if it got out that he didn't trust Dumbledore..."It's against the rules, Dumbledore," he said, in that characteristic stiff voice of his. "I cannot allow it."_

_Dumbledore fixed him with his piercing stare. "You do not trust me?" He watched Crouch fight an inner battle, rules versus admitting he didn't trust the man everyone looked up to almost as a god._

_Cornelius Fudge, who was standing and listening nearby, shot Crouch a nervous glance. It was well known how uptight Crouch was. He tapped Crouch on the shoulder. "Mr. Crouch, you can let _Dumbledore _in, can't you, I mean, what would _he_ do to Sirius? Everyone trusts Dumbledore, no one would care if--"_

_"The rules say no one may visit a top-security prisoner," Crouch said, drawing himself upright, "I am afraid I cannot disobey the rules." He walked away._

_Fudge glanced at Dumbledore apologetically. "I'm sorry, Dumbledore, but..." he looked around nervously, and lowered his voice. "If I let you in, no one would mind and it probably wouldn't get out to Crouch that I did, and you wouldn't have to go telling people that the Ministry doesn't trust you..."_

_Dumbledore smiled faintly. Fudge was even more of a politician than Crouch. "All right," he said, "If you will let me in, I will not breathe a word of this incident to anyone."_

_Fudge bowed. "I don't see what harm it could do anyway, with all those dementors---" he broke off and shuddered. "Let's go," he said, and they set off._

_A few minutes later, Dumbledore was walking through the cold, wet halls of Azkaban. Next to him, Fudge was shivering, most likely from the way the depression in the place seemed to freeze you from the inside out. Even Dumbledore was not entirely unaffected, but it was his way not to give any sign of it, so he kept without showing any emotion on his face._

_"Here it is," Fudge said finally, pulling out a bundle of keys and opening the door. Dumbledore walked in silently. Fudge thankfully stayed behind, looking around nervously. Dumbledore had a feeling he was slightly terrified of Sirius._

_All thoughts of Fudge went out of his mind when he saw the ragged man sitting in front of him. "Sirius," Dumbledore whispered._

_Those sunken, dead eyes looked up at him. "Dumbledore," he said hollowly._

_"They aren't giving you a trial," Dumbledore said shortly._

_Sirius closed his eyes slowly, then opened them. He shook his head. "I know."_

_Dumbledore said nothing else for a long time, just watched the shadow of Sirius that was sitting in front of him._

_"I didn't do it, Dumbledore," the shadow said finally._

_Dumbledore only tilted his head to one side, still watching intently._

_"I didn't do it," Sirius repeated, "You've got to believe me, Dumbledore, I didn't do it."_

_"I trusted you," Dumbledore said, "James trusted you." Sirius' eyes closed in pain at the sound of the name. "Do you have proof?" He watched as Sirius opened his eyes and shook his head painfully. "Then I can still trust you, but I am one man. No one else will."_

_Sirius nodded slowly. "Make them change their minds, Dumbledore, make them give me a trial," he pleaded._

_"I cannot," Dumbledore replied, "I tried. They wouldn't listen." He stood up. "Goodbye, Sirius."_

_Sirius' eyes closed again. "Finger in a box..."_

_Dumbledore did not reply, but walked quietly out of the room towards Fudge, who had heard the whole conversation. "Let's go," he said to the other man._

_Fudge nodded fervently, closed the door and locked it. "What did he mean, finger in a box, Dumbledore?" he said as they walked away._

_Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "What was the last piece they found of Pettigrew?"_

_"His little finger," Fudge replied promptly. "And they sent it to his mother....oh. In a box." He looked at Dumbledore. "He planned it?"_

_"We can only guess," Dumbledore replied._

_"So you still trust him?"_

_Dumbledore looked at the other man sharply. "Would I lie?" he said simply._

_"Well..."_

_"I have yet to find proof that Sirius actually betrayed Lily and James. By all accounts, it makes sense, but without a trial and his alibi, I refuse to believe he did it."_

_Fudge looked uncomfortable. "Well, people weren't actually feeling very good about Sirius, and it wasn't like we could...and anyway, that was Mr. Crouch's decision, I couldn't--"_

_"If you had voted for giving him a trial, it would have been done," Dumbledore said softly as they stepped out of Azkaban, blinking in the sunlight. "I bid you good day." And with that, he Apparated._

Dumbledore slid quietly out of his memory and blinked at the change of light. He had never told anyone about that visit, and Fudge was smart enough not to say anything, either.

Though it was really one of his more brilliant schemes, getting Fudge to go against Crouch. Probably the only time anyone had managed to do it.

Dumbledore chuckled quietly to himself and climbed back into bed. Time enough to take care of the Pensieve in the morning.

He yawned, rolled over and went back to sleep.

This one doesn't have as much emotion but that's because it's Dumbledore. His emotions are kinda hard to capture, and I hope I did an okay job. I might change this a little later, to make it more emotional...might. If I do, I'll say something in the next chapter.

Oh, one more thing before I shut up. Does ANYONE know what a Harry Potter Author fic is? I've been trying to figure it out for months and I still have no clue. Please tell me if you know!!


	6. Snape

_His footsteps resounded loudly on the cold stone floor as he paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. Why needed a fireplace, he did not know. He never used it; the place in which he resided was always kept cold as ice._

_It was a mind game, a psychological thing. He knew this very well; his Master loved to play mind games with his servants. And with his enemies. It was a test, also; if you could survive in this cold place and not give any sign of discomfort, you were strong. If you could not, you were weak, and his Master had no use for you._

_He was strong. He had trained himself for many long years to become strong, hiding his feelings from the world. It had worked, and his Master had seen his strength at last._

_Though the man wasn't really his master. He had never seen him as his master, and he never would._

_Snape had no master._

_But the world did not need to know that. Let the world think he was a servant to Lord Voldemort. That was what he wanted them to think._

_He was no man's servant, neither Voldemort's or Dumbledore's. Though he seemed to work for them both, he was really working for one man: himself. And he wanted and worked for peace. Though it sounded cliché, it was the truth._

_The dying people did not bother him. The fighting did. If there was fighting, there was no peace, and he could not live his life the way he wanted to. If there was one thing he hated, it was taking away the freedom to make his own choices about his life._

_He had had this battle within his head many times, and every time he came to the same conclusion: there must be peace, and there must be a spy to obtain it. And the only one who could was him._

_His footsteps stopped suddenly, bringing a thick silence to the room. Snape threw the sleeve of his black robe back and watched his right arm intently._

_The deep black mark stopped burning suddenly. He touched it gently, half expecting the familiar sensation of Apparating straight to Voldemort._

_Nothing happened. As he watched, the edges of the mark slowly began to fade._

_Snape did not need to watch it more to know what was happening. He smiled grimly. So, it was done. He and Dumbledore had worked out a way for the child to be saved, and it looked like it had worked. Of course the other two could not be helped now, and there was no way Snape could have helped them before._

_Voldemort had not told him who the other spy was. Snape was too close to Dumbledore, and Voldemort feared that the older man could somehow pry it out of Snape._

_Of course, Snape didn't need to be pried. But nevertheless, he had never been told who the spy was; Malfoy knew, yes, but Malfoy loved being higher-ranking than Snape, and guarded his secrets closely._

_Snape bent over the fireplace and muttered something to his wand. A green fire flared up in it. The door to the room was locked magically, so no one would get in and see it. He did not fear that._

_He grabbed a pinch of glittering powder out of his pocket, threw it into the fire and stepped into it. "Professor Dumbledore," he hissed. Dumbledore had provided this special transport method for the occasion, without using the Floo Network, which could be easily tapped._

_A few seconds later he was standing in the Headmaster's office, looking Dumbledore in the eye. "Well?" said the older man._

_Snape stepped out of the fireplace. "He is gone. It worked."_

Snape's eyes opened into the darkness. He frowned, confused. Why had he had that dream? He had dreamed of many memories before, but never this one.

He well remembered what had happened that night. He had known it would happen, of course, but he could not prevent James and Lily from dying. However, he was not altogether helpless; he may not know the spy, but he did know the event, though not the exact date. So he and Dumbledore had formulated a plan to keep Harry from dying.

And it had worked.

Malfoy had shown up a few seconds after Snape arrived back at Voldemort's "lair," so to speak, told him of the "shocking news" of Voldemort's fall, and taken him straight to James and Lily's house. Snape had "tried to save" Voldemort but of course it didn't work.

He had planned it that way.

He did, however, help Malfoy and the other Death Eaters destroy the house. He had kept Harry safe, hiding him from the other Death Eaters, but of course they didn't know about it.

Harry had stayed hidden til later, when Hagrid had pulled him from the ruins. Snape, on the other hand, had gone back to life, with the rest of the Death Eaters. Of course, they had to make up stories to hide their allegiance with the Dark Lord, but Snape had Dumbledore to vouch for him and remained safe.

But now Voldemort was back, and Snape was to become the spy once more. He did not look forward to it, he did not want to do it, but he knew he had to.

He would have to fool the world yet again, but if anyone could do it, he could.

He had been doing it his whole life.

And yet, he asked himself, over and over, _Why am I doing this? _And over and over, the answer was the same: _Because without peace, I cannot live my life the way I want to._ And he did not want someone controlling his life.

And so, day by day, he laid the groundwork for defeating Voldemort. He would not defeat him; he would leave that up to those who were destined to do it; but he would make it possible.

Besides, this was a challenge. And Severus Snape never walked away from a challenge.

A huge, splitting yawn shook him from his thoughts. He had never been this tired in his life. Well, he would ponder on the meaning of all this tomorrow. With another yawn, Snape rolled over and went back to sleep.

Well, that was exhausting. That has got to be the hardest one I've written...Snape is so freaking complicated. And of course it took me three hours cuz I kept deleting the end part by accident. Stupid piece of crap.

*ahem* Shameless plug time!! If by some weird chance you actually _liked_ this chapter, go read Nomad's series about Snape. A lot of this is based on her work. BASED ON, not stolen. Go read her stories, she RULES.

Okay, I'm done. There might be another chapter, there might not. If anyone has any bright ideas of who else I could do..._besides_ Voldemort, no way in hell am I even gonna _try_ that...please tell me. Thayat's all, folks!!


	7. Alice

Everyone seems to want to read the opinion of someone who had no clue what was going on, so here's my stab at it. I was gonna write about an auror, which was a really good idea by the way...but it just wasn't coming in my head, and this came out instead. I'm thinking of trying an auror or something later. Thanks for the ideas!! If anyone ELSE has an idea for who to do next, please say something. I love to hear your opinons on things! Ugh, I'm being cheerful...:) 

_Alice yawned loudly, letting the cool night air get into her lungs. She didn't usually sit out on the porch and smoke like this, but it was such a beautiful night, especially for this time of year...and anyway, one of the perks of living alone was a lot of the time, you could do what you wanted without having to hear someone complain about it._

_Her eyes strayed unwillingly to the land next to him, and a chill ran down her spine. She never had understood why there was a huge piece of nothing but giant weeds next to her house, nor why anyone hadn't bought the damn land, or why she got such a weird feeling when she looked at it._

_She shook his head quickly, to clear it. She wasn't out here to puzzle the strange patch of land tonight; she could do that some other time. Tonight she was here to enjoy herself. She let her eyes stray back to the road, and the beautiful night sky. There was a full moon tonight...for a minute, her mind drifted to werewolves and other nonsense like that, but she shook her head and laughed quietly at her own foolishness._

_There was no such thing as werewolves._

_Suddenly, Alice's eyes opened wide. She shook her head once more, trying to clear it again. She must have stayed up too late, because now she was seeing things. She could have sworn three figures clothed in black had just appeared out of thin air._

_Yes, she must be seeing things, because now they weren't there. Decidedly unnerved, Alice looked back at the stars._

_But her thoughts kept drifting away, to things like her neighbors...okay, if the land next to him was weird, the neighbors were weirder. Time and time again she could've sworn she saw someone riding on a broomstick, or holding a stick up and making things appear out of the air...but she had gotten used to it, really. Maybe she was just insane, but she never told anyone because she didn't really want to be committed._

_And now her ears were playing tricks on her. Two feet away, she was hearing hissing sounds come out of that grass. But when she looked, there was no one there. Maybe it was just a snake. You never knew what could be lurking in that land...it was creepy, really._

_Then, all of a sudden, she gasped out loud. Okay, now she _knew s_he was dreaming. There was a_ house_ there!! And a man--three men--all blacked robed, they must have been the men she saw earlier--were walking up to the door. And what the hell were they doing? One, who seemed to be the leader, pulled out a stick. A stick!! All right, that was it, she was never smoking again. The tobacco must be getting to her brain. The man said something and the door opened. Yes, she was insane, she decided. Either her or the man._

_She wanted to scream, run back in the house--_something!!_ But her legs were refusing to move. She could only watch in horror and disbelief. The two other men stayed on the doorstep, waiting. She tried in vain to see their faces; maybe it was just too dark._

_Alice's horror grew when she heard the screams, through the still open door First a man's, pleading, begging...she could hear him trying to fight...what _did _those words mean?...then more hissing words, and a flash, a flash of green light, and...she could only imagine what had just happened._

_Then came the woman's screams. She covered her ears in pain, wanting to run, run and help her, but she was too afraid. The screams kept coming. She could hear them through the window this time, which was open. More screams, more pleading...she didn't know what it was about, she couldn't hear the woman clearly...but those same two words were said, she couldn't hear them properly...and then that same flash, that flash of green light...she could hear a baby crying, she wanted to run...oh God, what was going on?!!_

_The man...no, he couldn't have been a man, but whatever it was...it said those words again...but there was no flash. There was a loud, heart-wrenching scream and then...silence. She waited with baited breath to hear what happened._

_The two things...that was the only word to describe them...on the doorstep exchanged glances, then went into the house. She heard their angry yells, and then explosions. The house was being blown to pieces. They were soon joined by a third thing, who helped them. When the house was blown to bits and there was nothing left but a few shingles, one said more hissing words and out of his stick came a huge, ugly, green...skull thing. Then they were gone._

_Alice waited for what felt like hours before gathering up her courage and going to look at the ruins._

_At first she found nothing but bits and pieces of black ash and bricks._

_Then she saw them._

_Two bodies, a man and a women, lying among the rubble, with mouths wide open and a terrified look in their eyes. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that they were dead._

_She opened her mouth, and started screaming and screaming and screaming and..._

...screaming. She woke up screaming her lungs out.

The screaming stopped abruptly and changed to loud breathing as she realized where she was. She put a hand up to her forehead and realized she was sweating like crazy.

With a huge sigh, her head hit the pillow again. She hadn't had a nightmare in years, and that had to be her worst. She never remembered having that one before...it was so real...almost like a memory.

Alice rolled her eyes at her stupidity. Men did not appear out of nowhere and conjure up houses and go in and kill the people inside. They just didn't.

She yawned widely, closed her eyes and instantly went back to sleep.

_It was a beautiful fall day, and the streets were far from empty. It was very warm for this time of year, and everyone was coming happily out of their office buildings for their lunch breaks to get something to eat._

_Alice barely noticed the small man wearing all black walk past her, shuffling through the crowds looking terrified._

_Then the smaller man turned around and yelled something that sounded like "Serious!!"_

_A bigger man, wearing a black...dress...thing...which was really weird looking, come to think of it...looked up and narrowed his eyes abruptly. Alice shuddered. Those eyes were really creepy. She quickly crossed the street, which wasn't very wide, so she could still hear them but not be under that...gaze._

_It was lucky she did._

_"How could you, Serious?" the smaller man was sobbing, "Lily and James, Serious! How could you?!"_

_Alice knitted her eyebrows in confusion. What was serious? She didn't see anything particularly serious, besides the fact that the small man was sobbing. Oh wait, that must be the man's name. What an odd name, she realized. Who on earth would name their child Serious?_

_But she didn't have time to think. Serious was reaching into his dress thing. Her eyes widened. She had seen this before...oh no...she knew what was coming...she closed her eyes in horror and heard the explosion blow the street apart. When she opened her eyes, Serious was standing there, laughing his head off. From across the street, she could just barely hear the words. "Finger in a box..."_

_Alice stared in horror. This was getting really weird, she decided. People with black dresses with sticks killing people...what the hell was going on?_

_T__here were bodies lying all around Serious, who was still laughing his head off. People were screaming and running around. She could see a pile of bloody black cloth at his feet. She shuddered. The thought occurred to her to walk away, before the thing could get her, but she just couldn't. Her feet were stuck to the ground, it seemed. "Finger in a box..." she could hear the crazy man saying through his laughter, and the tears rolling down her face._

_More men dressed in those black dress looking things appeared in front of Serious. They pulled out their stick things, too, and carted him off. Alice didn't see how they got him away. She just stood there in shock, her mouth wide open._

_Then she fainted._

_The next thing she knew, she was sitting in an office-looking room. A balding man wearing a mustache and a frown was looking at her from his desk. She gulped. "Where am I?"_

_"Here," was all the man said. He pulled out a feather, dipped it in something black - it must have been ink-and wrote something on a piece of paper. Alice stared, confused. Since when did people write with feathers?_

_"Um, why am I--"_

_"I would like to ask you a few questions," the man replied. "Your name is Alice?"_

_"How did you know? Who are you? How did I get here? How dare you kidnap me!!" Alice sputtered suddenly. What was this man DOING?!!_

_The man sighed and put down his feather. "Please, ma'am, you must to listen to me. This afternoon, did you see an insane man wearing black robes blow a street apart?"_

_Black robes? Oh, THAT was what those dress things were. "What's it to you?" she said rudely._

_"Ah, so you did," the man said, ignoring her rudeness, "What did you see?"_

_Alice only glared at him. He would think she was insane, she just knew it, and then she would be committed and..._

_The man sighed again. "Look, lady, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. You can tell me what you saw, or I can force you to tell me what you saw. Which do you prefer?"_

_"Is that a threat?" she demanded angrily._

_"No, it's a promise. I won't hurt you, don't worry," he added quickly, "But I need information out of you. Are you going to give it to me willingly?"_

_"What are you, some kind of serial killer?"_

_The man groaned. "Oh God, one of the hard ones," he muttered to himself. He reached for his stick thing._

_Alice flinched when he brought it out. "What?" he said, noticing how white her face had turned._

_"Wh-what are you going to do with that?" she stuttered._

_The man raised his eyebrows. "What do you think?"_

_"You're not going to kill me, are you?" She was eyeing the stick warily, half-expecting it to jump out and kill her on the spot._

_"No, of course not. What makes you think that?"_

_"Put it away!!" She gasped frantically, the sight of it making her nervous. "I'll tell you, just put the stick away!!"_

_"All right, all right." The man put the stick back in his desk drawer. "Now, what's wrong?"_

_Alice took a deep breath, and began to recount her experiences on Halloween, and earlier that day when Serious had killed the smaller man. "And then Serious--the big one--"_

_"Wait, you know him?"_

_"No, I heard the little one say his name. What's the little one's name?"_

_"His name was Peter. And the man that killed him, his name was Sirius. Siri-us. Not Serious."_

_"Right...whatever," said Alice, confused. "He pulled out his stick thing, and he blasted the street apart, and killed everyone around him."_

_"No wonder you were afraid of my wand," the man murmured, "Every time you've seen one, it's been used to kill someone."_

_"What?"_

_"Never mind," he said, louder. "Okay, I'm going to pull my...what did you call it?"_

_"Stick thing," replied Alice promptly._

_The man blinked. "Whatever you say. I'm going to pull it out, but I promise I'm not going to kill you. That's not all it's used for."_

_"Then what is it used for?"_

_"I'll tell you later," the man lied. He pulled out his stick, and Alice couldn't help flinching. "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit," he reassured her. He raised it, and her stomach did flip flops over and over and then..._

Alice's eyes popped open. _Okay, what the hell was that?_ she thought. Houses and men appearing and killing each other, people named Serious...this was getting to weird for her. Maybe she needed to get out of bed for a little while.

Yawning, she shoved the covers off and got out of bed. _Now what?_ she thought. Her eyes landed on the TV next to her bed. Yes, there was an idea. She flicked the light on, then grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

As she surfed through the channels, a picture of news reporter caught her eye. Next to him was a small picture of a dirty-looking man with a mop of filthy black hair on his head. "Yesterday the police department reported that escaped convict and murderer Sirius Black is still missing from prison. The public is warned that Black is armed and dangerous. If you see this face, please call the number on the bottom of the screen."

Alice stared at the TV. Sirius...where had she heard that name? She could've _sworn_ she had heard it somewhere...and that face, it looked so familiar. She strained her memory, trying to think of someone she had known named Sirius. Maybe he was in high school with her...no, she was sure no one in her high school was named Sirius Black. 

She shrugged it off. It didn't really matter. With another yawn that nearly split her head in half, Alice turned off the TV and the light and climbed back into bed.

A few minutes later, she was a sleep, and no dream or memory disturbed her.

Note: Alice is completely made up; as far as I know, she's not a character in Harry Potter. If you want a real disclaimer, read my bio. Otherwise, don't sue.


	8. Voldemort

_She was begging him. Begging him for life. Her green eyes pleaded with him, tears pouring down her face._

_He didn't hear any of it. He had stopped hearing the pleading of his victims many years before. It made it easier to kill them. The screams had become like the annoying buzz of a fly; irritating, and necessary to squash to get it to stop. He laughed, and the sound nearly broke the windows. Another day, another fly to kill..._

_He raised his wand, and calmly said the curse. She was dead before she hit the floor._

_Then he turned to the baby, who was screaming nearly as loud as his mother. Another pair of green eyes stared up at him. He gasped suddenly at the shock that ran through his body at the sight of those eyes. Then he shook his head, clearing it. The prophecies were nonsense. This baby could never be the cause of his downfall, and love was such a bunch of bullshit. And if he killed it now, it could never hurt him....he lifted his wand, and with another laugh, said the curse._

_Then..._

_Pain._

_Intense, unspeakable pain._

_Vaguely, he heard his screams split the air in half._

_His head was splitting, and he was screaming in pain. All of a sudden, he realized how all his victims felt, when he blasted them._

_The pain did not stop. It kept going, on and on, as he felt all his power being slowly sucked out of him. Sucked out by this tiny little baby with bright green eyes, crying loudly. But its cries could not be heard above his scream._

_Slowly, the strength was sucked out of his body until it was only a heap on the floor. Then, very slowly, the pain intensified far more than he ever could have imagined. He tried to scream, but it didn't even come out as gasps. It was like a Silencing Charm and the Crucio Curse combined, only worse. He wished he could cry, or scream, just to express his pain, but he couldn't. He was being ripped from his body, ripped from his life, ripped from everything he had known on earth._

_Then, abruptly as it had come, it ended. If he still had a body, he would have collapsed on the ground and lay there for days, maybe even years. But he could not. He could only exist; exist, and hope, and hope more, with everything he had left - which wasn't much - that someone would come and help him._

_He pulled himself up, painful as it was; for he was still struggling to exist; and left the house. A little while later, he found himself in a deep, dense forest. As he lay on the ground, still forcing himself to stay alive, he searched his brain, for that he still had._

_The cruelty was still there. He still wanted to become immortal. His goals were still there. Good...but was there more? He looked harder._

_There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. He had nothing left, nothing to use to achieve all the goals he had left. He didn't have a wand, and even if he did he wouldn't be able to hold it. He would never become what he wanted to be if no one helped him, and no one would. They would all abandon him. He knew they would._

_And then, in the middle of his deep despair, a snake slithered quietly past him. A tiny spark of an idea came to him. He focused all of his almost nonexistent strength on the snake, hoping desperately that it might work somehow._

_Then, to his surprise, it did! He was inside the snake; he had possessed it. That was all the power he had left. He could posses the bodies others._

_So that's what he would do. He would wait here, and possess animals, until one of his Death Eaters would find him. For he knew they would. They were his faithful followers...right?_

_With a sudden tremor that ran through the snake's body, he realized that love wasn't such a bunch of bullshit, after all. It had nearly killed him just now. The snake shook its head for no apparent reason. He had killed and manipulated many people because of their stupid love, and someday he would kill and manipulate many more for the same reason._

_Someday._

_Lord Voldemort settled himself in the body of the snake, and waited._

Red eyes opened to meet thick, dense darkness as Voldemort's mind slowly woke up. Many wizards would be surprised to find out that yes, Voldemort _did_ sleep, but that was one of the disadvantages of having a body. Remembering his dream, Voldemort was still very glad he had a body...it wasn't worth the pain to not have one.

He was no longer struggling to stay alive...he was alive, and strong. His mind drifted back to the beginning of his dream, the murdering of James and Lily Potter. That had actually been fun, until he had tried to kill Harry...he had spent the rest of his life regretting that it hadn't worked. If only the kid would just DIE, already!! How much did it take?

Voldemort yawned widely. The muggle killings were beginning again tomorrow, and he needed a little rest before he would have the strength to do it. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep. 

Okay, I know I took a very wild guess in saying Voldemort sleeps...ha, that just doesn't sound like him...but if you know for a fact that he doesn't, feel free to say something and I'll change it to a memory instead of a nightmare. I also know I said I wouldn't even TRY Voldemort....well, I lied :). This just hit me out of nowhere, I have no clue where it came from, and then it wrote itself. I hope you liked it!


	9. Auror

_He nearly jumped out of his skin when Fudge's head appeared in the fire. What could he possibly be needed for at this hour? You-Know-Who was gone for good, everyone said, and most attacks didn't come til night! "Cornelius!" he said out loud, "What on Earth...?"_

_"There's been an attack! You've got to come right away, we're going to need Obliviators and Aurors and--"_

_He glanced around the room, looking for his Auror's robes but they weren't anywhere nearby. "What happened? Where?"_

_Fudge rattled off the address for a Muggle street as he darted around the room looking for those damned robes. "Aha!" he said finally, "There they are!" He grabbed the offensive robes and shook them out. "I'll be there right away, Fudge," he said, pulling them over his pajamas. Running a hand over his head and wishing he had time to brush his hair, he grabbed his wand and Apparated._

_Shaking off the weird feeling in his stomach that Apparating always gave him, he glanced around to get a good idea of what was going on._

_As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't._

_He would've recognized that face anywhere - how many times had he seen it laughing and joking with its best friend, running around the school, teasing, flirting, just having a good time? How many times had he been jealous of that face? Jealous of that laugh?_

_But, somehow, he was not jealous of this laugh. It sounded like a madman's laugh, not the normal laugh of Sirius Black. He shuddered as he thought that name. Sirius Black, standing in the middle of a torn-apart street, a mess of blood-stained robes and dead bodies all around his feet, holding a wand, and laughing. Somehow he knew he would never forget that image._

_Someone yelled his name and he jumped, realizing he was standing frozen to the street. He quickly strode over to Sirius - he never thought he would see _that_ face, think _that_ name, and think of him as a crazy murder - and looked at his fellow Aurors. "What happened?"_

_"Blew apart the street. He confronted Pettigrew - you know Peter Pettigrew, don't you? Went to school with them?"_

_He nodded shortly, not wanting to think about it even though that was the only thing he could think about._

_"Well, Peter tried to fight him, didn't work too well, Black blasted him to pieces." The other Auror dashed forward to help restrain Sirius._

_However, he didn't see that it was necessary. Sirius was going willingly enough with the other Aurors, so he busied himself by bending over the heap of ruined robes at his feet. Lifting them, he could see the bloodstains clearly, spattered all over the robes. He sighed, and set them down for someone else to take, and looked around at the rest of the sidewalk. Looking past the bodies of Muggles, something caught his eye. Wrinkling his forehead, he went to take a look._

_When he bent down and saw what the object was, he gulped. Looking back at Black, he listened closely to the insane man's laughing for the first time._

_"Finger in a box, finger in a box..." Sirius was saying, tears running down his cheeks like rain. "Finger in a box..."_

_He swallowed, hard, and looked back down at the object in front of him. Lifting it gently, he yelled out to the Auror he had been talking to before. "Hey," he said, "I think you better come have a look at this."_

_The other man glanced at Sirius once, then seemed to realize that there were plenty of people there to drag him away, and ran over. "What's going on?"_

_He held up the thing he was holding, and watched as his fellow Auror's eyes widened._

_"Finger in a box..." the Auror said in amazement._

_He nodded, then held it out. "Would you do it?"_

_The other Auror nodded, pulled out his wand and conjured a box. "We should send it to his mother, she..."_

_He nodded, and set the finger gently inside the box, then took it and tucked it into a pocket of his robes. Then he sighed. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"_

_The rest of the next few hours was spent questioning Muggles, cleaning up the ruined street, explaining things to Muggle please-men, and on and on. If he had thought that getting the whole story behind Black's odd behavior would make him feel better, he was wrong._

_The sick feeling in his stomach that had started as soon as he saw Sirius laughing insanely got worse. He found out that Peter had been yelling about betraying Lily and James. Lily and James! He felt like he should cry, but he couldn't. He could hear Sirius' voice in his head: "Finger in a box, finger in a box, finger in a..."_

_He squeezed his eyes shut at the memory, trying to shut out the echoes of that laughter, that insane laughter that was so different from the normal, happy, ecstatic laughter that he usually heard from Sirius. The two types of laughing blended together in his head, so that it went on and on, mocking him._

_He felt his stomach roll and pulled a piece of paperwork in front of him, focusing on it to try and shut out the sound in his ears._

_It worked; for a little while. He felt a little insane himself, walking around and hearing nothing but crazy laughter. Finally his boss told him to go home early, seeing how he looked a little sick and understanding that this must have been a hard day for him. Everyone knew how he had admired James and Sirius._

_So he Apparated home, planning on catching up on some paperwork to keep his mind off that horrible laughter that did not seem to want to leave him alone._

_But as soon as he found himself inside his house, he found he couldn't lift a quill without his hands shaking so hard that he dropped it. All he could do was sit in his armchair in front of the fire, staring into the flames. Memories were washing over him like powerful ocean waves that he couldn't stop with all the magic in the world, and he couldn't shove them away for later. It was as if he was standing in the ocean with his feet glued to the sand, unable to stop the waves or run away._

_The flames in front of him seemed to twist in front of him, so he could see nothing but faces; Sirius laughing, James laughing with him, Remus Lupin sitting beside them looking torn between amusement and anxiety for whatever prank they were planning, Peter looking terrified of them both. _

_Peter! Timid little Peter! He remembered how often he had felt disgust for the kid, hanging out with the others but not really being part of the crowd. But he had been a true friend to the last, unlike Sirius whom he had admired so much._

_Suddenly, he stood up and grabbed one of the Sneakoscopes sitting on his mantle shelf and flung it at the wall, feeling a wicked sort of satisfaction and glee when it shattered against the wall into a million pieces. As if something had burst inside him at the sound of it crashing, he sat back down, buried his head in his hands and cried like he had never cried before. _

_For once he was glad he lived alone, so no one could see the sobs that wracked his body, making him shake violently as if he was having seizures. Tears poured out of his eyes onto his hands, and he cried as if he would never cry again._

_Slowly, the sobs went away and the tears fell slower and less frequently until there was nothing left but his extremely wet hands and tear-streaked face. The sadness and memories went away until there was nothing left but a blank feeling of there being nothing he could do. He supposed this was called acceptance._

_With a sigh, he got up and gathered the shards of his Sneakoscope. As he threw it away, he felt dimly as if he was throwing away his old life, his old feelings about Sirius and Peter, his old fear of Voldemort, his old everything. Dusting his hands off, he went to start making dinner._

_It was time to start all over again._

He yawned, feeling exhausted, and let his eyes open to meet blackness. It was a few minutes before he remembered that he had had a dream, and he had to think a minute to remember what it was.

When he finally remembered, he smiled grimly. He hadn't thought about that in years. Of course, with the recent events that kept somehow appearing in the newspaper, it was no wonder he was remembering it again.

He thought he had thrown out his old life that evening, but now he realized he hadn't, not really. Though he still felt disgust and a little fear for Sirius, his old admiration had never quite gone away. The man was a genius, whether he was insane or not - how else could he have broken out of Azkaban?

Out of habit, he shuddered at the thought of the wizard prison. How Sirius had escaped that place was beyond him. That admiration bordering on awe was still there, whether he liked it or not.

He sighed and rolled over. There was plenty of time to think of this in the morning. With a huge yawn, he rolled over and went to sleep.

Just outside his house, a big black dog took a few steps out of his cave to get a good look at the house. The dog studied it for a minute, then nodded to itself. Then it turned around and went back into the cave, planning to tell Remus in the morning that they had to come here; he was definitely part of the "old crowd." 


	10. The End

To read the new chapter to this story, go back one chapter.

_Dumbledore carefully closed the small, carved box and set it safely on one of the top shelves in his cabinet, where no curious student would ever find it._

_Inside it, he had enclosed a spell, the most ancient kind of magic ever created._

_Three days before, he had found out the awful news of the deaths of two of the best people he had ever known. He knew the events surrounding their death were clouded with mystery, and it would be many years before the whole truth was uncovered._

_He also knew that the memory of that night would haunt everyone involved for many years to come, with or without his help._

_But he had seen signs of days to come, and much later in the future there was to be one Halloween night, just like the one three days ago, complete with a full moon. Hopefully there would be no deaths, but it was to be a night filled with magic...magic and memories. It would be the first time in fourteen years that was so painfully similar to the night James and Lily died. And that could only mean one thing._

_Everyone involved in the death of James and Lily would be haunted by their memories, stronger than ever before. So strong, in fact, that they would be kept awake all night, and most likely sucked into them. No one knew better than Dumbledore knew how dangerous it was to be driven by horrible memories. It was what kept Voldemort strong; his evil works were fueled by his awful childhood experience and his will to gain power._

_Dumbledore knew that the deaths of Lily and James was strong enough to be a painful memory that could easily drive everyone involved to do evil, if they chose to dwell on the memory. And, if something was not done, that was exactly what would happen fourteen years from now on Halloween._

_So he had spent forty-eight hours straight, looking through his most ancient books for the correct spell. And at last he had found it - a spell that would lessen the painful memories of all involved._

_In the normal way of things, everyone would have been kept awake for hours, delving more and more deeply into their memories until they either killed themselves, were driven insane or went on killing sprees - or worse. Dumbledore knew this could easily include himself._

_But the spell he had found would lessen the effect, so the people involved would simply fall asleep and, around midnight, dream of the strongest memory in a more vivid way than ever before. They would wake, wonder what it was all about, then fall back into a dreamless sleep._

_The carved box would hold the magic of the night back until midnight before it would open and release it in a much milder form._

_Dumbledore glanced back at his cabinet one last time before leaving his office and descending down the steps towards the Great Hall for dinner. As he went down the steps, he remembered more pressing problems of the minute. Steps turned to hours, hours turned to days, weeks, months and years that went by in their own time._

_And the small, carved box lay on the highest shelf of Dumbledore's cabinet, unseen and forgotten._

Albus Dumbledore's ice blue eyes opened to meet the bright sunshine that was to characterize November 1st. He blinked once, slowly, as the memory of his dreams came back to him. A small smile lit his face as he climbed out of bed and walked towards his cabinet.

There it was, on the very highest shelf. He had to reach to get it. As Dumbledore pulled the box down, he realized it was open. There, inside it, he could see the bright green crystal in which the spell had been contained. Once upon a time, it had been pure white, but the nature of the spell and memory had turned it green...no, not only green. Green with a black center, which was laced with a thin red line.

Green for Lily's and Harry's eyes. Green for snakes which were Voldemort's trademark. Green for the Dark Mark shining over their house. Green for the Killing Curse, and the flash of light that Harry remembered even when he was with the Dursleys.

Black for the night, for James' and Harry's hair, for their glasses, for the black magic done that night. Black for Sirius, black for Voldemort's heart, and for the hearts, robes, and masks of his servants. Black for the deeds Peter did, for his tainted friendship. The red vein was for the blood. Peter's blood, as he cut off his finger, and for the unshed blood of James and Lily. Red for Harry's scar, freshly made, a mark that would remind the world of what had happened that night.

As Dumbledore lifted the crystal, he could see it shining in a pearly, white, almost unearthly way, and he knew what it was for. White the full moon. White for the pure love that binds parents to their children, for the pure friendship of Remus, and Sirius, and James and Lily. And white, also, for tears. For the tears of James and Lily worrying about their son, for Remus thinking he had been betrayed, for Sirius in Azkaban and his tears of rage at Peter, for Peter's tears of fear. White for memories modified, made clean so they would not have to remember that awful night or the next day. And white for the new beginning that was made when Voldemort fell, when Harry lived and (yet to come) when Sirius was finally proven innocent.

These thoughts ran through Dumbledore's head, quick as lightning before they were gone. He knew he should wipe the crystal, destroying the deep, magical memories contained in it, but somehow he couldn't. This was ancient magic, the strongest there was. There was no use in erasing the crystal, and no harm in keeping it how it was.

He sent it to Harry instead.

And every time Harry looked at it, or touched it, he felt a strange sense of both comfort and sadness, as if his parents were near but not near enough. And yet, somehow, it made him feel better, as if everything would be all right.

There was no mistaking the love that radiated from it.

The End.

There will probably be more of this later, if I think of someone else to add.

Aaaaaaaand now, a special thanks to all my reviewers! I love you guys so much, you have no idea how excited I get every time I get a review from one of you. Thank you!

BlueRose - :) Thanks for saying that!! That made me feel really good, it was what I was trying to do with this story. I was hoping it would work, and I'm glad it did!

Cimorene - Your screen name kicks pants. AAAAAAH!! I'M ON YOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS LIST!! EEEEEEEEEEEEE!! *runs around screaming and announcing this to the whole world* Someone loves me!!! YAY!! Thanks for the review! :)

Dragyn - I dunno if you've come back to read the rest of this, but thank you anyway! Thanks again for pointing out my wonderful mistake, I did fix it thanks to you. I hope you did get to read Sirius, it wasn't my favorite chapter but oh well...

Ella - short, sweet, and to the point. Two words for you: THANK YOU!

lightning bug - Just let me say...I LOVE YOUR SCREEN NAME!! *ahem* okay, now what else? I wrote more, obviously. I think maybe you'll see who else there is to write for. And if you haven't, oh well. I'm glad you reviewed anyway.

Lyra - I did continue! I hope you read it, and I'm glad you liked it. Does that make any sense at all? :)

norafran31 - I didn't think I was gonna write more for a while, but this chapter just had to be done. Maybe if I think of something later I will write more. Until then...THANKS FOR REVIEWING!

Katameran - AAAAAAAAAAAH!!! YAY!! *runs around screaming KATAMERAN LIKED MY STORY!! KATAMERAN LIKED MY STORY!!!* You're welcome for reviewing Broken Trust!! I love that story, have you updated? *runs off to see...gets lazy on the way and decides to look later* Buuuut anyway, thank YOU for reviewing!

Kaylin - Dude, cool, I gave someone goosebumps. Especially you!! Did you know you wrote one of my favorite stories in the whole world?!! James's Face and Lily's Eyes, that is the one of BEST stories portraying Peter that I've ever read. It really makes me feel fuzzy and cool when one of my favorite authors reviews!! THANK YOU!!!

Kiara5542 - awwwwwww...yayes, Voldemort sucks. Thanks for the review and the comments!! *gets all weepy all of a sudden* I LOVE YOU!! No, not like that...:)

Shayla - awwwwwwwww!! I made someone cry!!! *sniff* I can't believe it. Now you're gonna make ME cry!! I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering about the mystery of what on earth a HP author fic is. Maybe I'll email ff.net about it...if I do, I'll be sure to tell you what the hell it is!

SimonJumper - awwwwww...thanks! But, at the risk of being modest, I really didn't do much. I just wrote it how it was...or I how I think it was. Thanks for letting me know I did a good job!

Tarawen - let me just say, I LOVE all your reviews. Thank you a million times for reviewing every chapter. I always look forward to reading what you have to say! It's always so insightful and intelligent (whoa, big words, I'm getting dizzy...it's summer, my brain doesn't work too good). Thankyouthankyouthankyou...never mind. But anyway, you're one of the best authors I know and I hope you keep writing more.

WingedWolf - STOP CHANGING YOUR SCREEN NAME!! IT CONFUSES ME!!! but, anyway... Thbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbt!! You have a dream about Voldemort being evil and scary and then we'll see if you still make fun of me!!


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